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Sunday, 1 October 2017

One Daily Positive - Week 39

Another week that has raced by, only 2 weeks until my planned return to Dubai, although I don't have flights booked yet, the teen still isn't employed, but there are a few interviews lined up, but it doesn't leave much time to find him somewhere to live and get him moved in. I guess the best thing to do is go back home and come back to the UK when I'm next needed over here, I sort of feel I'm just hanging around at the moment, achieving nothing and getting under peoples feet.

I think the tenant has moved out, all has been quiet the past week. I joined Mumsnet and eBay and posted a couple of items for sale for the first time in ages and already reached over £140 on a 1978 World Cup Panini Football Sticker Album. Sheer madness, Dad has loads of stuff like this I will be selling.

267 Sunday So Cute
Last day for Peter in the UK, we returned the car hire and said goodbye at the airport. I drove back to South Wales in the new car hire a Fiat 500. The evening was spent tidying the flat, cleaning and doing the washing.

268 Monday Blurred
Spent the morning organising the sale of Dad's car and lining up more properties for Mum to view. We visited a couple of houses in the afternoon. I'd forgotten just how many spiders there were in the UK, I'd been walking through spiders webs all day as we explored lots of different gardens. Popped out to hand over keys for the Jag, new owner just happens to own a pub, I got home 4 hours later a bit worse for wear.

269 Tuesday I'm eating
Met Mum in town for a coffee, I was late as I picked up the guy who bought the car and took him round to collect it off the drive while Mum waited for me in the coffee shop. I've been buying prepared, fresh meat dishes for 2 from Waitrose, but I'd put them in the freezer so I've been eating the same meal 2 days in a row. It's getting a bit boring.

270 Wednesday Organised
Hair cut first thing, more house hunting and the afternoon spent in the flat making some space to store some more of my Dad's stuff that's left to sell. I collected my niece from school, we went for ice cream and in the evening I popped in to see a friend.

271 Thursday Friends
Mum car needed to go for an MOT, back to the flat for a couple of hours then the teen and I went to visit my ex MIL, his Granny at home, who isn't very well. The District Nurse came and she was really good. Over the past few weeks, grab rails and ramps etc have been installed in the house to help her get a round much more easily. Peter and I skype every evening, it's a bit of a rush to get home to a wifi connection with the time difference between the UK and Dubai, but as a rule, once I'm home between 3pm & 5pm I rarely go back out.

272 Friday BML17

No blogging conference for me, I hadn't anticipated being in the UK this long. Was initially slightly disappointed that they'd changed the date from June, as I had originally planned on going and booked my UK visit to allow for the usual date. Britmums published there SnapHappyBritMums Photo Prompts for October today, I replied to their tweet saying I'd been using their prompts every day for almost 3 years with little interaction from them and still no response.

We viewed a Park Home today. I will confess it met all the criteria for Mum, however I really had my reservations about spending all that money without further research and the ground rent was high, for little to nothing in return, but the final decision isn't mine, all I can do is present my research, based on time spent, experience and knowledge of buying and owning property, being a landlord and paying ground rent.

Drove up to Tewkesbury in the afternoon with the teen to colelct his girlfriend from school who is staying for the weekend. Dinner with a friend and her kids, then popped to the pub and had a early night.

273 Saturday BIBs Brilliance in Bogging (not blogging) A photo from yesterday's visit to the school farm.

Dropped a suit off with a mate, then met mum, sister and niece in town for breakfast, went for a coffee afterwards, ran a few errands and went to Newport with the teen and his girlfriend, they wandered round the shops and went to Nando's for lunch while I met up with friends for coffee. The Park Home is a no go, there's a 10% charge on the re sale of the property, which is payable to the land owners. This is common practice, along with the £133.50 per month ground rent and still having to maintain the property, garden and having your own insurance, the buying highlights of no stamp duty, low water costs and council tax band A aren't actually that much of a saving over a potential 10-15 year period.

I spent the evening making up boxes, sorting more stuff, watching TV and had a bath.

I bet you'll be glad to get all the jobs ticked off and get back to some normality. The Fiat seems to be the favoured car in our office. We have about 25 parking spaces, and out of 100 people usually working in the office there's about 7 who have one of those cars

glad you are looking at the bigger long term picture of the housing. I do holiday relief cover at a complex,and between their council tax and warden fees they are nearly £400 a month before they spend anything else. Nice you still visit the ex inlaws mine disinherited me and their grandchildren when ex and I split up.

i pay £90 a month ground rent for the flat i own, but it covers buildings insurance and repairs and communal areas and gardens and pays for it all to be managed, which potentially saves me an awful lot more in the long run